Shock absorber



Feb. 2G, B923. LMFGAZ@ c. A. KUTCHER SHOCK ABSORBER Filed Dec. 5, 1921 E112-ai. m @L Patented Feb., 2th Thd.,

NETE@ STATES CHARLES A. KU'rC or snnnrnnn', wvonnine.

encon sonem.

application mea recentere, 192i. sensi no. tienes.

To all whom #may concern Be it known that L CHARLES A. Euronen, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sheridan, in the county of Sheridan and .State of Wyoming, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shock Absorbers; and ll do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ot the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to malte and use the same..

This invention relates to an improved shock absorberto be used upon' automobiles and other similar vehicles and is intended to be connected with the frame andv axle ot' the automobile so that when the trame or body portion moves downwardly in going over rough places in a road and then rebounds, the' rebound will be checked and thus jolting of the car prevented.

@ne object ot the invention is to so construct this device that it may be readily applied to an automobile lnivinp,r a conventional construction and to have the device so constructed that it will not interfere with downward movement of the bod portion of the cnr but will retard upwar movement ot the body portion ot the car. lt will thus be seen that in going over. rough roads, the body portion ot the car may readily'move downwardly toward the anle but will move upwardly slowly on the rebound and thus prevent the jolting.

Another object ot the invention is to so construct this device that it may have an operation similar to that ot a bralte such as is ordinarily used npon the rear aide ot a car, it being understood however that the trictionnl binding; between the drum portion ota the device and drum encircling ring about ,which the gripping band is placed will not be suticient to entirely prevent rotation ot the rin upon the drinn.

inet er obyfect ot the invention is.to so constrnct the drum portion ot this device that it tony be compressed thus preventing' excessive binding between the ring and drum when going1 over very rongh places in n road Another object oit the invention is to so constrnct this portion it be 'yieldabiy held against compression by means of n spring element which is so mounted that its tension may he controlled and the proper binding between the drum und drum encircling ring provided.

Another object ofthe invention is to so construct this device thatthe rin which tits upon the drum and the gripping and which extends about the ring;r may be held against move-ment transversely of the drum and thus prevented trom slipping transversely out ot place, the guide means however permitting ot' proper movement of the ring and band.

This invention is illustrated in Ithe accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view showing the device applied .to a fragmentary portion 'ot a vehicle', the view being principally in side elevation and partially in section.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken alongv the line 2--2 of Fig. l.,

F i re 3 isa sectional view taken alone,r the hne 3-3 ot Fig. 1.

This improved shock absorber is to be connected with the axle 1 and witha convenient portion ot the chassis 2, a trag ment of which has been shown in Figs. 1 and 2. rllhe drum 3 which is formed of metal and preterabl of spring metal is in y the t'orm of a split ring having one end portion bent to entend inwardly andl provide any abutment tongue ai thus permitting' the drum to be expanded and to permit compression ot' the drum to be controlled as will be hereinafter brought out. T his drum carries an attaching bracket or support 5 which is bolted to the side bar of the chassis by means of bolts 6 and is provided with arms T at its ends which are secured to the drum as shown b v means ot rivets or other similar tasteners 8. lFroin an inspection ot lliig. l, it will be seen that lthis attaching bracket or carrier 5 is connect/ed with one end portion ot the split ring which forms-thc drum and with the split ringf intermediate its length thus leaving the split ring; above the brat-het tree to enpand and contract. `An Lsnaped bracket 9 is riveted to the bracket or sup port 5 and has its outstanding toot ll) pro- 'vided with an opening through which will pass a threaded stein ll. .titer the stem il has been pasefed through the opening in the toot l0 ot brochet' il, the secnringgI nnt l2 will be pnt in place and tightened and i the abutment not .tt will then he placed upon this stern. A. it placed upon the and its lower end engaging the abutment nut 13 and its upper end engagingr spection of Fig. .1, it will be readily seeny that by turning the abutment nutv13, the tension of the spring 14 can be readily controlled and the spring 14 by bearing against the tongue 4 caused to yieldlably 1 prevent compression of the upper .portion of the drum to the extent desired. A facili strip 15 Awhich will be formed of any suitab e ma'- terial to create Vfrictio'nal binding isplapedfl upon the outer facejof this drumiorxfningfjf I move freely about the drum. It will thus split ringv and is securedfbyv` rivets" 16: this facingshould wea-r Vou't,.itcf:an.be easily removed and a neWfQQIe cput-'in place. l

. The grippngbandalv extends Iabout a ring turn upon 'the-idinim.`y When this band is the- 'band andring will be caused to rotate 'l as aunit upon the drum but when the band is ,'released,'the ring and 'band may have '1ndependent'movement. It will thus be seen E25..

that'when the lever 19 lwhich has looseconlnection with the two end portions of the band as shown at 20 andl'21, is moving in `one direction the band and 'ring may move vfreely 'about the drum whereas when the 4flever is havin movement in the opposite direction, the and will be drawn tightly 'about the ring and pressure applied to draw Vtothe ringlinto tight binding engagement with the frictional facing of the drum. In order to yieldably hold the lever against movement towards the releasing position, there has been provided a spring 22 which has one end connected with the lower portion of the lever and has its lower end portion connected with an ear 23 secured to the gripping band. It is desired to prevent the gripping vband and ring from having move# ment transversely ofthe drum and'therefore the bandhas been provided with Yyokes 24 which are secured to the band by rivets 25 and have their side arms extending along the edges of the band, ring and drum.' From an inspection of Fig. 3, it will be readily 'seen that the vyokes .will preventthe ring and band from having movement which would permit o f them fslipping off of the drum but that'these yokes will not prevent free movement of theband and ring about the drum. The forward end portion-of the lever 19 is connected with a rigid strap 26 be riveted totheside bar of the chassis..

When the car is moving vover a rough road I.and the car moves downwardly, the-lever 19 will swing against the action of the ,spring 22 thus releasing the gripping band and permitting the band and ring 18 to be seen that downward movement of the car body against the action of the usual supporting spring will not, be retarded. When the car moves upwardly on the rebound, the

upwardy movement of the car body and Y chassis will cause the lever to swing in the direction to draw the end portions of the band toward each other thus tightening the gripping band about the ring and causing the ring to be drawn into tight binding engagement with the friction facing of' the drum; This will serve vto retard upward vmovement of the car body but will not entirely prevent this -movement andv therefore the car may return to its original position but will be prevented from causing jolting. 4In going over very rough roads, the tendency for upward rebound will be greater than in going over slightly rou h roads but .since the upper portion of t e splitring which forms the drum may be compressed against the action of the spring 14, the proper amount of frictionaly binding between the ring and drum may maintained at all times. If it is found that the spring 14 is under too great a tension or does not have sufficient tension to cause proper operation of the compressible section of the drum, it is simply necessary to adjust the abutment nut 13 upon the threaded stem 11a-nd the tension of the spring can be controlled. l There has thus been provided a shock absorber for use in connection with a vehicle which'will serve toeil'ectively preprevent jolting of the occupants of the car.l

I` claim: 1. A shock absorber comprising a drum element, a ring fitting'about the drum for turning upon the drum in either direction l 2. The structure of cla`1m\1 having afric- Ivent exeessivegrebound of the car and will l s Meana@ tion element between the drum and ring for causing frictional binding to retard turning of the ring about the drum.

3. The structure of claim 1 having a friction element between the drum and ring for causing frictional binding to retard turnlng of the ring about the drum said friction element being secured upon the outer face ot the drum.

4. rllhe structure oi`claim 1 and guides carried by the grippino` band and extend ing along the sides of the drum to hold the band and ring against moving transversely of the drum.

rlhe structure of claim l having the drum compressiblle radially to overcome eX- cessive binding between the ring and drum when the gripping band is tightened.

6. The structure of claim 1 havin-g the drum formed of resilient material and split transversely whereby the drum may be compressed when the band is drawn tight and the band and ring moved as a unit about the drum.

7. The structure of claim l having the drum formed of resilient material and split transversely to provide a compressible drum having spaced ends, a support connected with one end portion of the drum, and resilient means carried by said support and engaging the second end portion of the drum to yieldably hold the drum against compression.

8. yihe structure of claim 1 having the drum formed of resilient material and split transversely to provide a compressible drum having spaced ends, a support connected with one end portion of the drum, resilient means. carried by said support and engaging the second end lportion of the drum to yieldably hold the drum against compression,- and means for varying ,the tension of said resilient means.

9. The structure of claim 1 having the drum formed of resilient material and split transversely to provide a compressible drum having spaced ends, a support extending diametrically of the drum and having one end connected with one end of the drum and having its other end connected with the drum at a point intermediate the ends of the drum, a. tongue extension at the other end of said drum, a pin carried by the support, an abutment adjustable longitudinally upon the pin, and a spring upon the pin having one end engaging the abutment and its other end engaging the tongue extension of the drum.

lln testimony whereof(l lf have hereunto set m hand.

y CHARLES A. KUTCHER. 

